Spring Fling Flourishes – as Art Lovers Flock to Dumfries and Galloway
Second Berlin exhibition planned and applications soon to open for next year’s open studios visual art and craft weekend
The 13th annual Spring Fling was another record-breaker, bringing more visitors and income to Dumfries and Galloway than ever.
Scotland’s premier contemporary visual art and craft open studios weekend welcomed a total of 13,200 unique visitors, some 55% of them from outside the region and 30% from beyond Scotland.
Together they spent £1,430,000 on art, craft, accommodation, food and drink – bringing substantial benefits for the regional economy, a 2% increase on 2014.
Between them they made 40,000 visits to the studios and galleries of the 94 artists and makers selected for the 2015 event over 23 to 25 May, spending £263,000 on art in studios.
Leah Black, Spring Fling director, said: “It’s been a tremendous year for Spring Fling and for our work to promote the region as a brilliant place to visit for its art, craft, culture and countryside.
“Just as important is that Dumfries and Galloway is building a reputation as a place where artists and craft makers can succeed. That’s hugely important for the future as well as for present generations.
“We really want talented young people from the area to have the confidence that this is somewhere they can stay, or return to, for fulfilling careers.
“This year we welcomed visitors from as far away as Hong Kong and Gambia, but we also took Spring Fling to the wider world – including our first ever international exhibition which promoted our visual art and craft in Berlin.
“This is a very exciting time for us and we are already starting to put together our plans for next year.”
A second Berlin exhibition is on the cards for 2016, building on the foundations from this year.
It is also hoped that Spring Fling will build stronger links with Northern Ireland as part of its Neighbours Scheme – having had its first ever participant from the area when it welcomed photographer Laurie Campbell in Stranraer.
Applications to take part in Spring Fling 2016 (28–30 May) will open in the week of September 14 and, as ever, it will be welcoming neighbours from Ayrshire, the Borders and Cumbria.
